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If instagram made restaurants, it would have made Megan’s. Because while this Balham branch may not have the twinkly walled garden of the King’s Road original, its interior is bigger and prettier. (And it’s more important to be pretty on the inside, right?) The ceilings are festooned with twigs and faux roses, there’s lots of crushed velvet, lots of wood. It’s like a very girly log cabin.
As for the food, it’s better than you might expect for somewhere with such an obviously people-pleasing menu (Med and Middle Eastern small plates, open kebabs, vegan options, brunch). The best thing at dinner was the ‘posh lamb doner’, the fattiness of the slow-braised meat offset by the crunch of pickled veg (cucumber, cabbage, carrot), all heaped on to a fluffy flatbread. Also decent were the spiced calamari (thin, nicely chewy, with a rich aioli), plus cauliflower florets in a fiery peri-peri marinade. But a vegan quinoa salad was underdressed, leaving it dull and dry.
Still, staff were sweet and deeply tolerant of intolerances, dealing graciously with the neighbouring table’s gluten-and-dairy-free requests. If they can just turn the lights down (so bright!), Megan’s might just be the area’s most atmospheric little spot.